10 Haiku

Bright orange poppies 
exploding out of a crack
in the paving stones

I don’t stop the cat

from swatting at a big fly
razzing through the house

Warm late spring night—

against a lavender sky
shadow people pass

*

New lemon blossoms—

the cat rolling in the dirt,
its coat shinier

The sun’s reflection

in a puddle of water—
soft rain is falling

The cat’s eyes widen

when a fire truck screams by—
fading summer dusk

*

Little black birds poised

on strands of telephone wires
in a huge blue sky

Jade and caramel

pebbles shining on the beach—
my pockets are full

Blinding silver waves

crash and tumble toward the shore—
a surfer rides them

*

Reading old haiku

in the early summer dusk,
cat curled on my lap

.

This Can't Be Wrong

Like a flash on the water 
I know this can’t be wrong
I catch a glimpse of the order
Man it’s been so long

Oh I know this can’t be wrong

Birds abound in the bushes

Singing swirling songs
I stop my rushing and hustling
And linger on the lawn
 
Oh I know this can’t be wrong

I found a friend in a dream one time

After she’d been dead
And through a sky of a smile
This is what she said

Set your feet down

In this deep ground
Right where they belong

Set your feet down

In this deep ground
Get yourself back home

I fell in love with the laughter

Glowing in your eyes
Now I know what I’m after
This is paradise
 
Oh I know this can’t be wrong

.

Another Fate

Hey there mister can’t you see 
Something’s burning down in me
It gets so hot I’ve got to scream!
I know you know just what I mean

When you’re not at home you’ve got to

Roam that lonesome road

I was schooled and I was ruled

With phony maps and broken tools
But when I knew that I was fooled
I knew I had to make my move

You see something flash through a crack

And you can’t turn back

So many things that I was told

Just empty noises dead and cold
There’s so much more than what is shown
I’ve got to find it on my own

Flee this emptiness you hate
And find another fate



.

Last Shot

Mister Rudy was full of booty

He had the best place around

When you were in there drinking

You would get to thinking

Rudy was the king of the town

His Miss Judy was a beauty

She could really shake it around

Shaped just like a cello

Man! she made fellow

Feel his devil tremble and growl

Those two people seemed

To have it all worked out

Mister Rocco wasn’t normal

He was better than the rest

So much stronger so much smarter

Better watch it partner!

Every test proved he was the best

He knew a player is a taker

Any man who pauses is lost

He was built for speed

And couldn’t bear to be

Anybody less than the boss

That club Rudy had

Always made him feel small

Rudy’s lady made Rocco crazy

He had to have her all to himself

But he felt like a loser

Judy wouldn’t choose him

When Rudy was the one with the wealth

He looked at Rudy and he knew he

Had to get the best of that man

He knew it was his duty

To take that beauty Judy

Steal her out of old Rudy’s his hands

He walked in the club

Gonna get her

Packing a big gun

Gonna get him

Saying praying to himself

This will be done

He put a bullet in Rudy’s belly

Killed the king to be with the queen

It felt just like a dream

But when Miss Judy screamed

He knew she’d never be with him

She would never be with him

.

Flashes 11

A happy

bulge beneath

your belt

Obsessive collectors

in cafes

with laptops

That flag

in the boss’s

office

*

Her cynical

masculine voice

harsh from smoking

Marching formations

like a walking

word

A chorus

of disparate

voices in us

Soul damage

was his sense

of soul

*

Using eyes

as tools

of observation

Feel that

readiness

in your neck

Generosity:

our clear connection

with God

.

Get Off This Bus

“It is right and it is just—because he must!”—Henry Miller

Everyone’s got it

Everyone’s got a reason

That we don’t know

But we know that they’ve got it

‘Cause everyone needs a reason

To keep on going

We think we don’t show it

But we’re glowing with it every moment

That we keep going

We go without knowing

Exactly when or where the road we’re on

Is gonna be done

But it’s gonna be done

I wait for a signal

I stand in line and wait my turn to get

A glimpse of a sign

I hint or a vision

A trigger I can figure that tells me

That the time is mine

To do what I’ve got to

And make a move that breaks through to

The next side of my life

The side that’s been hiding

And waiting for me to get it right

Now the time has arrived

It’s like the turning of the tides

When you know you got it right

This time

And you know you got it right

‘Cause you’re feeling so alive

And light

And the chime you feel inside

Is rhyming with the light

Outside

Outside and inside

There’s something I trust

Something that tells me I must

Get off of this bus

It’s right and it’s just

It’s right and it’s just

Because I know that I must

Get off of this bus

Get off of this bus

And watch it ride off in the dust

‘Cause I’ve had enough

I’ve had enough and I know

This world is a bluff

This world is a bluff

.

We The People

Trade fifty years
Of vitality and industry
Advancing someone else’s wealth
In exchange for opportunities
To purchase some degree
Of comfort when we rest


.